Submission #2388

At Wonder Bees, we’ve been reflecting a lot on the recent budget cuts to pedagogical support, and the conversation feels incomplete without naming a bigger truth:

Family Home Centres have never had equal access to this support in the first place.
Pedagogical support is what helps educators grow, reflect, and respond to children in meaningful, informed ways. It strengthens programs. It supports inclusion. It helps us navigate the complex, human work of caring for children.
But for many Family Home Centre operators, that support has always been limited or entirely out of reach.
So when funding is cut, it doesn’t just reduce support, it deepens an already existing gap.

Family Home Centres are licensed.
We follow the same regulations.
We support children with diverse needs.
We build strong, responsive relationships with families.

And yet, we are often expected to do this work:
• without access to the same funding
• without the same professional supports
• while also carrying the full weight of running a program alone

Educator. Director. Administrator. Cook. Cleaner. Business owner.
All in one, often without a team to lean on.

We talk a lot about quality in early learning, so here are the facts.

* 1 in 3 childcare employees report burnout “often” or “extremely often”
* 37% of childcare workers report frequent burnout, compared to 24% in the general workforce
* Half our educators leave the field within 5 years. That means every second child care provider you meet, will no longer be present by year 5.
* 82% of childcare operators are struggling to hire qualified staff.
* 62% of operators have had to actively recruit in the last 2 years

Those stats mean that:

* Educators your child bonds with are leaving
* Constant new faces in programs
* Rooms running short-staffed
* Experienced educators burning out and leaving faster then we can train new staff
* Programs struggling to stay consistent

As a FHC, we constantly hear from families leaving centers that have high turnover concerns that have driven them to look for alternative childcare arrangements (e.g. family home centers) And with a 50% reduction to funding for support staff – that’s about to get a whole lot worse. Already we have had families reach out, concerned about staffing cuts, and even pending classroom closures.

High staff turnover doesn’t just affect programs, it affects the relationships children rely on to feel safe, understood, and ready to learn. It affects language, disrupts attachment (the foundation for everything), impacts emotional regulation, and creates chronic stress.

As conversations continue around funding and support in early childhood, we hope to see Family Home Centres meaningfully included.